Before you open your own at-home shop

For those thinking about starting their own at-home store, the city of Los Angeles requires a business license for anyone working more than seven days in one calendar year on a single business — whether it's in your living room or in a high-rise. But filing a business tax registration certificate (the paperwork required to procure a license) is free, and a spokeswoman at the city's Office of Finance said retailers who report gross receipts under $100,000 — and file those results in a timely fashion — won't pay any tax to the city. Other cities, the county, the state and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service have various requirements too, so be sure to do some homework before launching a new enterprise.